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05-13-2019, 07:52 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 2
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Electrical and boondocking
We have a 2017 Rockwood 5th wheel. I'm confused about how / what we can use electrically with our solar panel and battery when drycamping. Can I use a hair dryer and curling iron or an immersion hand blender? Does the converter automatically switch from plug in power to battery and solar? When I plug in my curling iron, it doesn't work. Is there a switch or something I need to push. Sorry, I'm not an electrical engineer, I just want my stuff to work. Thanks, Kathy
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05-13-2019, 08:28 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mountain Foothills of Southern Alberta
Posts: 2,004
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Your 110 volt outlets will not work unless you are plugged in to an AC outlet or a generator. So you can not use your curling iron or hair dryer etc.
The solar panels help to keep the battery charged when the trailer is not plugged in.
Items that will work off the battery are water pump, furnace, water heater (on propane), fridge (on propane), lights, radio, ceiling exhaust fan.
You can get an inverter and a lot more batteries to run the inverter which will supply 110 VAC to run your hair dyer and curling iron. That can be costly depending on how much power you want/need.
__________________
2007 Surveyor SV230 - 200 Watts Solar/MPPT Controller - 220 AH Battery Bank (Two-GC2) - 600 watt PSW Inverter - (2) 2000 watt Inverter Generators - LED Lighting
2009 F150 - 5.4 Litre with Tow Package
Boon Docking 99% of the time.
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05-13-2019, 08:44 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Kalamazoo
Posts: 2,139
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your camper has two separate systems. 12 volt and 110 volt. nothing is going to run plugged into an outlet unless you have a generator or shore power or seriously get some major solar and an invertor and re wire you camper.
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05-13-2019, 08:48 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Posts: 7,616
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I can run 120V with my trailer because I installed a 2000W inverter.
The solar panels only charge the battery. Whatever runs off the battery is what you can run assuming you don't have an inverter
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05-13-2019, 09:05 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: Georgia
Posts: 581
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and if running generator does not insure that these appliences will run. output of genny
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05-14-2019, 03:41 AM
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#6
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,780
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vakathy
We have a 2017 Rockwood 5th wheel. I'm confused about how / what we can use electrically with our solar panel and battery when drycamping. Can I use a hair dryer and curling iron or an immersion hand blender? Does the converter automatically switch from plug in power to battery and solar? When I plug in my curling iron, it doesn't work. Is there a switch or something I need to push. Sorry, I'm not an electrical engineer, I just want my stuff to work. Thanks, Kathy
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I'm sorry you did not get a good walkthrough from whoever you bought the trailer from.
Solar panels are ONLY for recharging the batteries. They don't run anything.
For your high demand electrical items, you need shore power or an Inverter generator.
Even if you installed an INverter, you'd need a big one and a bunch of batteries.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
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05-14-2019, 05:03 AM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Northeast Louisiana
Posts: 33,917
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Kathy, this link will quickly explain your different electrical systems as well as what a converter, inverter, and solar does.
It may help you understand the differences as well as what you can or CANNOT use with each.
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...nt-152813.html
__________________
2011 Flagstaff 831 RLBSS
A 72 hour hold in a psych unit is beginning to intrigue me as a potential vacation opportunity.
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05-14-2019, 03:10 PM
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#8
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Posts: 2
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Electric
Thank you, everyone - that clears up my frustrations! I'll now be better prepared for our boondocking excursions. Hats are cheap .
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05-23-2019, 11:02 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 148
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boondocking
Your 120 volt outlets will not work
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FTFY! Here in Merica we run 120V
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimber45
your camper has two separate systems. 12 volt and 120 volt. nothing is going to run plugged into an outlet unless you have a generator or shore power or seriously get some major solar and an invertor and re wire you camper.
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Read above
__________________
2018 Rockwood Roo 19
2007 Lexus GX470 4.7 V8
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05-23-2019, 04:42 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mountain Foothills of Southern Alberta
Posts: 2,004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jonshonda
FTFY! Here in Merica we run 120V
Read above
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Here in Canuckville we run anywhere from 110V to 124V.
__________________
2007 Surveyor SV230 - 200 Watts Solar/MPPT Controller - 220 AH Battery Bank (Two-GC2) - 600 watt PSW Inverter - (2) 2000 watt Inverter Generators - LED Lighting
2009 F150 - 5.4 Litre with Tow Package
Boon Docking 99% of the time.
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